BY ALAN BRUNACINI
In the last installment, associations were established between the rules of engagement and the effective use of our body parts-the anatomy and physiology (A&P) of organizational behavior. These parts make up a whole person, and the focus of No-Brainer Management is to look at how an effective boss uses those A&P parts separately and together in a coordinated way. Sometimes, the parts all happily go together well and produce an effective outcome; sadly, other times, the parts ineffectively “bump into each other,” and that dysfunctional collision can produce a flubbed performance.
Many times, it is difficult to get coached in body part performance, so flubbing can become habitual and then genetic. If the members within the organization do not collectively correct the dysfunctions, the resulting behaviors, which many times can be screwy, can invade the DNA of that overall system. Many times when we look at organizational problems from a historic perspective, they go back to negative performance/behavior that did not get corrected; then as it continues, it just becomes the way we do business. Organizational DNA is extremely difficult to correct (duh!). This is the component that makes up the culture of an organization, and it is the role of the boss to continuously improve organizational genetics by moving the system in a positive and progressive direction.
The category of personal effectiveness is the first segment in a No-Brainer package of material I am developing to describe the behavior of an effective boss. Reading the A&P effectiveness rules of engagement for any boss activity can be difficult to apply in the real world. This is particularly true when you try to better understand what happens when humans get together in an organization and you are their boss.
The body part rules are designed and directed to be applied by a real live human. They are not academic, theoretical, or complicated. They are pretty simple to state and, many times, challenging to apply. An example is when the rule says to process what you say through your brain before it comes out of your mouth. Think of the pain, grief, need to apologize, and trauma (literally getting shot) that can follow a comment that goes directly to the mouth instead of first being processed through the brain.
For my basically simple approach to life, it seems that I connect better to a story than to a list even though the contents of a list (like the rules of A&P engagement) create a quick way to describe the basic behavior rules that can provide the foundation of a short, simple instruction manual for understanding and doing those things in which humans are involved. Often, it is beneficial to go back to the rules of engagement to troubleshoot how you performed (+ or -) in a particular situation, but relating to a story sometimes effectively summarizes what the rule really means and can produce a “now I’ve got it!” effect.
MY BOSS A&P STORY
In my travels, I am continually fascinated by the special, internal language firefighters use to communicate with each other. Although we think we are special, I am certain that school teachers and truck drivers (as examples) also have their own internal lingo they use to exchange information and to connect with each other just as we firefighters do. Much of our internal language is pretty universal throughout the fire service. Because of this verbal commonality, we can visit with firefighters just about everywhere and effectively connect by using our familiar terms to relate and understand.
As an example of this verbal commonality, we will soon be happily journeying to FDIC 2014, and all 35,000+ (!) of us will spend a bliss-filled week hanging out with each other in the halls and on the friendly streets of Indianapolis. I have been very lucky and have attended the event for a long time. I can’t remember hearing anyone ask for a translation in the endless conversational interactions between firefighters from all over the world.
To make our language adventure even more interesting, in addition to the common servicewide words we seem to use everywhere, there is also a chapter in our dictionary about the special words that are absolutely unique to every fire department. We have our own very local (special to us and no one else) words we attach to the tools we use, the evolutions in which we engage, our local procedures, and the description of the characters inside that system, and on and on. It is great fun to go somewhere new to you and hear another firefighter from that place you are visiting use a word you have never heard before. This generally produces a “Huh?” and then an interesting description that often includes a story about the derivation and application of the hometown department word or term.
My personal effectiveness story takes place in the fire department in which I spent my life and involves the use of the word “handler.” I have never heard that word used in any other fire department. A person would be described as a handler if he were street-smart; physically capable; coolheaded; and able to personally handle really difficult, scary, personally challenging kinds of tactical and organizational situations. Handlers also make the difficult things they do look simple. When a firefighter used that word (rarely) in our department, he changed his voice so it sounded more respectful.
In my time on the job (48 years), only a few fit that very complimentary handler description. That title (read “honor”) was reserved and bestowed mostly by those who worked below or next to that person. I think this is true simply because (as we have said over and over in this column) those who know you the very best are those you have power over. It is a lot easier inside the system to create a positive impression with someone who is separated from where you actually do your job than it is with the troops who work directly under you. Your workers see you up close and personal at your best and worst. When you work under a boss, you get to look up to him. This vantage point of view many times enables you to discreetly look directly up and under the boss’s “dress.” Many times, this inescapable view is very revealing.
As a young firefighter, I was assigned to a handler. A review of the rules of engagement for effective personal performance (last column) pretty much described him to a “T.” You got a very quick idea about what kind of guy he was when you saw the tattoo on his arms: “USMC” on one side and “Mom” on the other. They sort of told the basic story about him. I hung out with him for at least 25 years, and I never saw him do anything that did not line up with what his tattoos “said.”
AUTHENTIC HANDLER/BODY PARTS
His body parts described him as an authentic handler in the following manner:
Brain. He had a very balanced brain. He went to school and graduated from both regular college and the university of the street. He was able to effectively deal with human situations and then connect those conditions to tactical solutions. He seemed to have the mental instincts to be in the right spot at the right time doing the correct action. He also had the ability to evaluate where not to be. I worked with him on an engine company in a busy place before much attention was paid to safety and worker welfare, so we were all kind of on our own, and this required strong leadership from company commanders. He seemed to instinctively mentally communicate with the fire and the building and was able to create effective outcomes based on those “conversations.” I continually pestered/cajoled/hammered him to explain why he knew what he knew. He was always patient and smart in dealing with his confused, young, pretty dumb firefighter. I later became his battalion chief and asked him (on and off the fireground) a gazillion times, “Whadaya think?” We were a great combination: He had a really big brain; I had really big ears. I always felt smarter and safer when his brain was present.
Backbone. He was the most courageous person I have ever known-in every way on and off the fireground. Our department at the time I worked for him was managed by administrators who were old-fashioned, autocratic, and in love with the status quo. It was in a period where things in our business were beginning to change quickly and our big bosses spent most of their time dragging us back into 20 years ago. The process created a huge amount of internal confusion and pain. Sometimes the senior office inhabitants (big bosses) would exert themselves in mean-spirited, controlling ways to the troublemakers (like me). These difficult situations created potentially dangerous situations for my boss.
I never had a situation where he failed to step in front of me and many times took the bullet. There is a current term: “I’ve got your back!” In his case, he always “had my front!” When I watched him, I learned that real courage and trust many times are connected to danger, and if you want to see if you can trust someone, see if that person will put his personal welfare on the line for you when organization bullets are flying. It’s pretty easy to talk a good trust game when there is no chance of your getting beat up, but when you put your personal gazoo on the line for someone else, it becomes a time/place where you can sort out beef from baloney. He was the beefiest example I ever encountered.
Gut. He had developed instincts that always seemed to predict the future in tactical, organizational, and human ways. After I got to know him, I always quietly watched him to see how he would react based on his instincts and intuition. On the fireground, it seemed that he had the gut ability to predict what rapidly moving conditions would be like next; this created the very practical forecast to be in the best position to effectively deal with what was happening (solve the problem) and the ability to many times move all of us away from where the problem would assault/murder us.
He also had the skill to use his second brain (i.e., gut) to navigate the humans with whom he would deal. I was the recipient of that skill. He routinely engaged me and coached me about how to effectively navigate my way through a basically dysfunctional organization during a time in my life when his direction created habits and reactions that lasted a lifetime. It seemed he could predict the next dumb thing I was about to do and would intercept that goof-up in an easygoing and persuasive way. The gut-based direction he gave me created habits and abilities that have lasted 50 years. To this day, I still hear his voice in my ear, “Be quiet and watch; then really think about what to do next.”
Feet. I would watch his mobility and continually wondered how he knew not only where to be but also the best route to that position. At a fire, our company always operated in the most critical tactical position based on just following him-that hazard zone position was also in the place that was the most fun (hot/cut-off spot). I learned how important it is for a boss to practice “selective presence” that is the direct result of having smart feet. We worked in a very large, old-time, three-story downtown fire station with a crew of 22 firefighters. The big station had a lot of places you could “hide,” and the crew had the very natural firefighter’s mischievous inclination. His feet always seemed to take him to the spot where the current prank could produce paperwork and meetings, and his physical and personal presence eliminated many complications in all of our lives.
Heart. Probably the most important thing I learned from him was how he could deal with the result of the human condition trying to grind itself through life. He had the ability to extract the emotional needs a situation was producing. I have attempted in a modest way to try to write about the process of our serving customers who call us to help them when they are physically and emotionally threatened. What I tried to describe was the kind, patient, considerate, and respectful response I learned from watching him. He was just as skillful at being in the most effective physical position as being in the best position to relate and respond to someone who required first aid delivered to his feelings.
I could go on describing my fond recollection of the personal effectiveness of my leader/friend. I hope the brief quips about his skill and ability will serve as examples of ways to connect personal capabilities to body parts and to describe the spirit of a handler.
The body part rules are not academic, theoretical, or complicated. They are pretty simple to state and, many times, challenging to apply.
Retired Chief ALAN BRUNACINI is a fire service author and speaker. He and his sons own the fire service Web site bshifter.com.
Alan Brunacini will present the workshop “No-Brainer Management” on Tuesday, April 8, 1:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m., at FDIC 2014 in Indianapolis.
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